The mainstay of therapy for patients with acute cholangitis is drainage of an obstructed biliary tree. Antibiotic administration is a complementary treatment used to control . . .
The mainstay of therapy for patients with acute cholangitis is drainage of an obstructed biliary tree. Antibiotic administration is a complementary treatment used to control sepsis and inflammation. In this retrospective study, researchers in Amsterdam assessed the duration of antibiotic therapy after biliary drainage was established in 80 patients who presented with cholangitis from a variety of causes (63% due to stent occlusion). All patients were successfully drained at endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), and signs of systemic inflammation had subsided.
Blood cultures were obtained from 46 patients; 46% were positive. The managing physician determined the duration of post-ERCP antibiotic therapy (median, 3 days; range,…